{"1": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3455", "width": "2232", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "gass A--^.-\\nBook .M-S^C^", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "^p", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "Bi-Centennial Souvenir\\ni693-i893\\nV\\nNEW CASTLE, NEW HAMPSHIRE\\nCOMPILED BY\\nChestkr B. Curtis.\\nI\\nv/Y", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "Printed and Illustrated\\nBy the Republican Press Association,\\nConcord, N. H.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "INTRODUCTION.\\nThis little book is, necessarily, a hasty compilation.\\nIts lirst object is to preserve, in tangible tbrm, a record of\\nour bi-centennial celebration, together with a few facts,\\nculled from histor} bearing more or less directly upon\\nthis event. Furthermore, it is intended to convey to absent\\nsons and daughters an idea of the New Castle of to-day.\\nOur social position acquired during the past decade,\\nnecessitates a brief statement of our present flourishing con-\\ndition. It is hoped the numerous illustrations will supply\\nthat which is lacking in the few paragraphs here given.\\nTo Mr. John Albee, the compiler expresses his appreciation\\nof the use of New Castle, Historic and Picturesque, from\\nwhich a part of the following extracts are taken, some\\nverbatim. Also to those citizens who have contributed\\nthe illustrations, and to the authors of the literary exer-\\ncises of the day, the compiler expresses his thanks.\\nc. B. c.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "OFFICERS OF THE TOWN OF NEW CASTLE.\\nSELECTMEN.\\nFred Bell, Chainnan.\\nAmbrose Card.\\nCharles H. Becker.\\nHoward M. Curtis, Clerk and Treasurer\\nCOMMITTEE ON CELEBRATION.\\nWilliam Edward Marvin, President.\\nEXECUTIVE BOARD.\\nJohn Albee, Chairman.\\nConrad Push.\\nFred Bell.\\nAmbrose Card.\\nCharles H. Becker.\\nMoses R. Curtis.\\nConrad Push,\\nChester B. Curtis,\\nSecretaries.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "OFFICIAL PROGRAMME.\\nRinirinf; of bells.\\n6 a.m., i^ i-. 6 p.m.\\nNational salute fired from Fort Constitution.\\nII A. M. Procession and Flag-raisings.\\nSpeech at Grammar School by Col. T. E. O.\\nMarvin.\\nSpeech at Primary School by\\nExercises at Fort Constitution.\\nAddress of Welcome,\\nFred Bell, Chairman of Selectmen.\\nAddress by John Albee, Chairman of Exec-\\nutive Board.\\nOration bv Frank Warren Hackett.\\n1 p. M. Dinner in Stone Shed.\\n2 p. M. Sports.\\nlo-oared boat race.\\nNew Castle, Portsmoutii, and Kittery\\nPoint crews.\\nBicycle race.\\nPotato, obstacle, and sack races.\\nlOO-yards dash.\\nYacht race by Piscataqua Yacht Club.\\n7 p. M. Band concert.\\nBonfire, fire-works.\\nMusic furnished bv the Dover Cornet Band.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "NEW CASTLE, N. H.\\nIt Is difficult to separate the history of New Castle\\nfrom the general affairs of the Province of New Hamp-\\nshire in the early times. We may naturally claim\\nwhatever transpired here, as the building of forts, the\\nentry and clearance of vessels, the residence of gov-\\nernors, and the meetings of councils and assemblies, as\\na part of the town s history. New Hampshire has\\nforgotten that story or, when she remembers, is apt\\nto locate it at Portsmouth. The fact is, that the settle-\\nment of New^ Castle was prior to that of Portsmouth;\\nand that for the first seventy-five years it was the cap-\\nital of the province, and two thirds of the provincial\\nofficials were citizens of the town.\\nThere are two aspects, two periods, that chiefiy make\\nthe history of New Castle interesting the first is the\\ntown as the centre of all the principal events of the\\nearliest provincial period the other is when, lett only\\nto its own local affairs, it gradually became insular,\\nclannish, and peculiar. In regard to the causes ot its\\nearly importance and subsequent obscurity, they were\\naltogether natural. As soon as the colonists found\\nout what were likely to be the natural resources and\\nbusiness of this part of New England, they planted\\nthemselves on this island, directly at the mouth of the", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "Piscataqua, where the facihties for maritime affairs, for\\nfisheries and Indian trade, were most convenient.\\nBut in those days it was necessary to protect your\\nproperty and 3 our person by defences of some sort at\\nexposed points. Now an island affords the most\\nnatural and easiest opportunities of defence. The\\nform of this island was already that of a fort, very\\nnearly square, with jutting points of land at the four\\nangles, like bastions. Rude fortifications were early\\nbuilt on these four corners, which immediately gave\\nthe island still more the appearance of a great coast\\ndefence. The first was constructed by Capt. Walter\\nNeale, between 1630 and 1640, at Fort Point. It was\\nthe duty of New Castle to keep a constant guard at the\\nmain Fort or Castle, of from four to six men and also a\\nwatchman on Jaffrey Point, and one or two in the\\nvicinity of the free bridge. On this account the town\\nwas generally exempted from the levies for other mili-\\ntary duty. New Castle was the pet of the province\\nlooked upon as a common possession, a barrier town,\\na place of refuge in case of extreme danger or disas-\\nter. So much for the military situation.\\nNo actual local government, independent of the\\njurisdiction of Massachusetts, was put in operation in\\nNew Hampshire before i68o- 8i, so that there is very\\nlittle doubt the very first representative body ever con-\\nvened in the state was at New Castle. The date of the\\nfirst Council meeting is Great Island, January 15,\\n1683, and every one of its meetings was here until\\nthe year 1697. members of this first recorded\\nCouncil, including the governor, Edward Cranfield,\\nlived at New Castle.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "Their first meetings were in the private houses of\\nsome of its members. The Jaffrey cottage, now\\nowned and occupied by John Albee, Esq., and the\\nresidence of Jotham Emery, Esq., formerly the Prov-\\nince House, have been the scenes of these assembhes.\\nNew Castle became a port of entry about 1686 and\\nfor one hundred years thereafter the shipping interests\\n5^y^^^^JE\u00c2\u00bb ^jgs^^!^l^, al ^_ l ll^Mli W aBl^l l \u00c2\u00bbll J J^\u00e2\u0096\u00a0 iig*^\u00c2\u00bb i i-\\nThk Jakkrev Cottage, owned kv John Alhee, Esq.\\nwere extensive. In the olden time, merchant vessels\\ncarried guns, and often as many as the old fort\\nmounted. But the little fort sent a shot across the\\nbows of an)- vessel which had not paid its dues, and\\nif the vessel submitted, she was obliged not only to\\npay them, but also the cost of said shot.\\nFrom 1682 to 1693 several petitions were offered", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "lO\\nby the people of this island for a township charter\\nbut, being opposed by Portsniouth, as well as by the\\ndwellers of Sagamore creek, it was not granted. For\\nsome years before 1693 the people had refused to pay\\nany tax assessed by Portsmouth and at length the\\nGovernor and Council decided that such assessment\\nwas illegal. Having obtained this important conces-\\nThe Old Kos n Allen House.\\nsion, the procuring of a charter was no longer difficult,\\nand followed almost immediately. The first vote was\\ntaken 17th March, 1693, and was a tie on the part of\\nthe Council, but Lieutenant-Governor Usher decided it\\nby voting yea. When the matter came up again, the\\ngrant meanwhile having been prepared and engrossed,\\nthere was but one dissenting vote upon its being", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "II\\nsio-ned and executed by the lieutenant-g-overnor. So\\non the 30tl i da\\\\ of Ma)-, 1693, Great Island became\\na Towne Corporate, by the name of New Castle, to\\nthe men and inhabitants thereof forever, on the pay-\\nment to the king-, or his successors, yearly, on the 20th\\nOctober, of one peppercorn.\\nThe following- is a transcription of probably the old-\\nest New England royal charter which has been pre-\\nserved. The parchment is uninjured, and the writing\\nis still easily decipherable\\nCHARTER OF THE TOWN OF NEW CASTLE.\\nWilliam and Mary, by the Grace of God, of England,\\nScotland, France, and Ireland, King and Qiieen, Defend-\\ners of the Faith, c., to all people to whom these presents\\nshall Come Greeting. Know yee that Wee of our especiall\\nGrace, certain knowledge, and meer motion, have Given\\nand Granted And by these presents as tarr as in us lyes,\\nDoe give and Grant to our beloved Subjects, Men and\\nInhabitants, within and upon Great Island, within our\\nProvince of New Hampshire, in New England, and the\\nlands to them belonging, Running from a point of Land\\nthere on the South side of Safisxamores Creek, called\\nSampson s point, and from thence Southwest by the out-\\nside of the fenced land of Saggamores Creek to the head\\nof Aaron Moses field to an old Hemlock Tree by the side of\\nthe Road way, and from thence upon the aforesaid South-\\nwest point to the Road way, between Sandy Beach and\\nGreenland, leaving Greenland about three miles to the\\nWestwards soe forwards upon the same point to Hampton\\nBounds, and then East to the Sea, that the same be a\\nTowne Corporate by the name of New Castle to the men", "height": "3356", "width": "2019", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "12\\nand Inhabitants thereof forever. And Wee doe b} these\\npresents Give and Grant unto the said Men and Inhabitants\\nof our towne of New Castle, all and every, the streetes,\\nlanes and highways within the said Towne, for the Pub-\\nlique use and service of the Men and Inhabitants thereof\\nand travellers there, together with full power, l3xence\\nand authority to the said men and inhabitants within the\\nsaid town forever, to establish, appoint, order and direct\\nthe establishing, making, laying out, ordering amending\\nand repairing of all streetes, lanes, highways, ferry places\\nand Bridges, in and throughout the said Towne, necessary,\\nneedful and convenient for the Men and Inhabitants of the\\nsaid towne, and for all travellers and passengers there\\nProvided always that our said Lycence soe as above\\ngranted for the establishing, making and laying out of\\nstreetes, lanes, highwa3 s, ferry places, and Bridges, be not\\nextended or constructed to extend to the takincr awav of\\nan} person or persons Right of Property without his, her,\\nor their consent, or by some knpwne law of our Province\\nTo have and to hold and enjoy, all and singular, the prem-\\nisses aforesaid, to the said Men and Inhabitants of the said\\nTowne of New Castle and their successors forever. Render-\\ning and paying therefore unto us, our heirs and successors,\\nor to such other office or officers as shall be appointed to\\nreceive the same yearly, the annual quitt rent or acknowl-\\nedgement of Owne Peppercorn in the said Towne, on the\\nfive and twentieth day of October, yearly, forever. And\\nfor the better order, rule and government of the said Towne\\nWee doe by these presents Grant for us and our succes-\\nsors, unto the men and inhabitants of the said Towne, That\\nyearly and every year upon the first Tuesday of March,\\nforever, they, the said men and inhabitants of our said\\nTowne shall elect and choose by the major part of them,\\ntwo sufficient and able men, householders in the said\\nTowne, to be Constables to the next Quarter Sessions of the", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "13\\nPeace, to be held for the said Province, there to take the\\naccustomed oaths appointed by Law tor the Execution of\\ntheir othces, under such penaltyes as the Law of our said\\nProvince shall appoint and direct upon refusall or neglect\\ntherein. And Wee doe by these presents Grant for us,\\nour Heirs and successors, unto the men and Inhabitants of\\nthe said Towne, That yearly and ever}^ year upon the said\\ntirst Tuesday of March, ibrever, they, the said men and\\nLihabitants of our said Towne, or the major part of them,\\nshall elect and choose three men, Inhabitants and house-\\nholders, within our said Towne, to be overseers of the poor\\nand highways, or selectmen for our said Towne, for the\\nvear ensuing, with such powers, privilidges and authorities\\nas any overseers or selectmen within our said Province\\nhave and enjoy or ought to have and enjoy. And wee doe\\nlurther by these presents Give and Grant for us, our Heirs\\nand successors, unto the men and inhabitants of the said\\nTowne and their successors, forever, That they shall have\\nand enjoy the use of the Ferry the days of the Fairs of\\nNew Castle, aforesaid, Ibrever, to be held there every\\nWednesdav, and one Fair for two dayes, to witt, on the\\ntirst Tuesday and Wednesdayes of July, forever, together\\nwith all issues and profits to the said Market and Fair\\naccrewing or happening, and all liberties and free customs,\\npriviledges and emoluments to the said Market and Fair\\nbelonging or appertaining To have and to hold said\\nMarket and Fair with issues and protits and liberties and\\nfree customs privilidges and emoluments to the same or\\neither of them accrewing or happening, belonging or\\nappertaining to the said men and Inhabitants of our said\\nTowne of New Castle and their successors, forever.\\nIn testimony whereof Wee have caused the Seal ot our\\nProvince to be hereunto affixed.\\nWitness, John Usher Esqr., our Lievetennt. Governor\\nand Commander in Chiefe of our said Province at our", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "14\\nsaid Towne of New Castle, the thirtyeth day of May, in\\nthe fifth year of our Reigne, Annoque Domi 1693.\\nJn. Usher.\\nBy the Lievt. Governours Command\\nTheo. Davis Sec ry.\\nIn regard to the name of the town, there is no\\npositive proof of its origin. It would be most natural\\n*j(** fe_-.\\nPortcullis at Fort Constitution.\\nto suppose it was borrowed from an English place,\\nname, or from the baronial title. But this Province\\nhad no association with the English New Castle and\\nit was not until long after that any duke of New\\nCastle became connected with American colonial affairs.\\nHaving eliminated those two sources of the proba-\\nble origin of the name, w-hat have we left? Only this", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "15\\nthat, in common allusions to the fort, it was often\\ncalled The Castle, and had its first distinctive name\\nof Fort William and Mary not until one year after the\\nincorporation of the town, that is, in 1694. It was\\nthen so named, probably, because about 1692 the king\\nmade the colony a present of some great guns, which\\nwere mounted on the old fort. In addition to this\\nnew ordnance, the fort was at about the same time\\nrepaired.\\nMy argument then, says John Albee, is simply\\nthis: The fort had been called and known for a long-\\nperiod as The Castle; at the date of incorporation,\\nit was furnished with new guns and substantially\\nrebuilt, becomino- a new castle. What more natural\\npresumption, under these circumstances, than that the\\ncitizens and c)fficials should give to the words con-\\nstantly on their lips, the dignity of capital letters. New\\nCastle, and thus establish a name, significant of the\\ntown s military importance the key, or castle as\\nthey alwa)s called it, of the province.\\nWith the exception of a few years during the\\nRevolutionary period, our town records are now com-\\nplete. Until 1873, the records from 1693 to 1726\\nwere missing. In the autumn of this year, the post-\\nmaster, Howard M. Curtis, Esq., received a letter from\\nMr. Henry Starr, of London, informing him that one of\\nhis neighbors, a Captain Bokenhan of Cheshunt, in\\nHertfordshire, had in his possession two volumes of\\nthe town records of New Castle.\\nThe letter was cautiously answered, and the reply\\nwas the volumes themselves, bv the next Eno-lish\\nmail. They proved to be our long-lost records of the", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "i6\\nfirst thirty-three years of the town s corporate existence,\\nin perfect preservation. The town, at its next annual\\nmeeting- (March, 1874), passed a handsome vote of\\nthanks to the a^entlemen who had discovered and\\npresented the volumes, which was enorossed on parch-\\nment and forwarded to them in due time.\\nNew Castle was the scene of the first important\\naggressive armed action of the Revolutionary patriots.\\nBefore Paul Revere s ride to Lexington and Con-\\ncord, he had taken a much longer one, if not as\\ncelebrated. On the 13th of December, 1774, he\\nrode express from Boston to Portsmouth, dispatched\\nby the Boston Committee of Safety, to inform the\\nsimilar organization in Portsmouth of the new order of\\nthe British, that no gunpowder or military stores\\nshould be exported to America. No doubt this infor-\\nmation was coupled with advice to secure the gun-\\npowder at Fort William and Mary, before the arrival of\\na large garrison, reported also, by Paul Revere, to be\\non its way. Therefore, the next night, or next day,\\n(the 14th), the Portsmouth Sons of Liberty, with\\nthe patriots of New Castle, in all about four hundred,\\nunder Maj. John Sullivan and Capt. John Langdon,\\nproceeded to the fort by water, as there was then no\\nbridge, invested it, and summoned Capt. John Cochran\\nand his five soldiers to surrender. However, it was\\nnot the officers and men, nor yet the fort they came\\nfor, but its one hundred barrels of powder, which they\\ncarried away and secreted under the Durham meeting-\\nhouse. The subsequent history of this powder is\\nequally interesting with its capture, for most of it was\\nused at Bunker Hill, being carted there by oxen all", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "17\\nthe way from Durham town, just in season to be\\nserved to the soldiers on the eve of engagement and\\nthe last ounce of it was fired in 1800 from the shotgun\\nformerly belonging to Sir William Pepperell, and\\nfound as fatal to the Madbury gray squirrels as it had\\nbeen to King George s red-coats.\\nThe Martello Tower, a little west of the fort, is the\\nmost picturesque object in New Castle. It is built on\\nthe ridge of a high ledge, anciently called Jourdan s\\nRocks. Artists have painted it, and poets love to\\nrelate its story, relying upon each other for imaginary\\nembellishments. Its date is so recent^^and its history\\nso small, that it is almost necessary to invent some\\nfacts in order to properly celebrate so rare a ruin.\\nThe annals say that the Tower was built during the\\nlast war with England, and when an immediate attack\\nwas expected by an English fleet. Its purpose was to\\nguard more effectually the so called Town Beach, to\\nthe south, from landing parties, and to reinforce the\\nbatteries of Fort Constitution. It was planned and\\nconstructed under the care of Colonel Walbach, whose\\nname it has always borne. He was a German count,\\nwho had seen service in the Prussian army and had\\nfought against Napoleon in twenty-six battles.\\nHe was lonof in the service of the United States, and\\nin command of Fort Constitution from 1806 to 1821.\\nColonel Walbach summoned the company of sixty men\\nunder Captain Marshall, who garrisoned the earth-\\nworks on Jaffrey s Point, at the eastern end of New\\nCastle, to assist his own soldiers in building the tower;\\nand all the citizens of the town also aided. It was\\nrapidly completed but no enemy appeared, and soon", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "the tower grew a ruin. It is so small as to suggest a\\nfortification in miniature or model, rather than for\\nactual use. It is the size of the round towers of the\\nMiddle Ages and on this account, perhaps, appears\\nof greater antiquity of the age the imagination easily\\nrenders it. Walbach Tower is of brick the terreplein\\nwas of peat, which has become like grassy turf. The\\nWalbach Tower.\\ntower is difficult of access now, as the entrance is\\nobstructed by fallen bricks and mortar. Within is a\\nrude pintle-stone, on which to swing a thirty-two\\npounder. There are three casemated embrasures for\\nsmall cannon or muskets, in case of assault and a\\nLilliputian magazine.\\nOne feels that if it has not a legend it ought to have.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "^9\\nTHE LEGEND OF WALBACH TOWER.\\n(New Castle, N. H., A. D. 1814.)\\nIf yovi should turn your feet from yonder town,\\nIntent to bathe your eyes with heaUng sight\\nOf open sea, and islands rising through,\\nMere heaps of shattered ledge that have outstood\\nEternal storm, though gray, defiant still.\\nThe river shows the path that you must go\\nIts stream engrails the shores of twenty isles,\\nAnd pleasant is the way as is its end\\nFor you will idle on the bridges three,\\nAnd loiter through the ancient village street.\\nThat crowns the harbor mouth. Then you will come\\nTo beaches hard, and smoothed by each new tide\\nRolling between the low, port-cuUised rocks,\\nRocks bare a-top, but kirtled at the feet\\nWith sea-weed draperies that float or fall,\\nAs swells or sinks the lonely, restless wave.\\nThere, just above the shore, is Walbach Tower,\\nIts crumbling parapet with grass and weeds\\nO ergrown, and peaceful in its slow decay.\\nOld people always tell strange tales to us,\\nA later race alwa}s old tales are strange.\\nAnd seems the story of this ancient tower\\nA marvel, though believing while I hear.\\nBecause who tell it do believe it true.\\nThree English ships lay under Appledore,\\nAnd men in groups stood on the rocks, intent\\nIf they the fort could mean to cannonade.\\nOr land along the coast and inland march\\nTo sack and burn the wealthy Portsmouth town.\\nThe morning dawned and twice again it dawned,\\nAnd still the hostile ships at anchor swung\\nBut now a rumor ran they meant to land\\nAt once brave Walbach was resolved to build\\nA tower which all tlie beaches should command,\\nAnd mount thereon his sole tremendous gun.\\nHe summoned all the villagers at dusk", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "20\\nOf one September Sunday, when the days\\nAre shortening and the nights are bright and cool.\\nMen came and boys, and with them women came.\\nWhose dauntless mothers helped our fathers win\\nIn that rebellious time against the king.\\nThe freedom which, forgetful of its cost.\\nWe toss to any hand raised o er the crowd,\\nAnd pushing hardest, or with loudest voice.\\nThey wrought as never men and women wrought.\\nAnd in one night the tower completed rose.\\nBut lo, the miracle for unseen hands\\nAlternate with the mason s dextrous craft.\\nAs voice repeats and catches up the voice\\nIn song, laid on the workmen every course\\nAnother course, and they no presence saw,\\nBut thought they heard the chiming trowels ring.\\nThe morning glimmer showed that labor done\\nFor which two nights were counted scarce enough\\nThen well their awed but joyful hearts confessed\\nSome present deity their champion friend,\\nTo whom they knelt upon the dewy grass.\\nAs in the east, the sun returning, built\\nA tower of gold along the ocean floor.\\nAnd offered up subdued and grateful praise.\\nThe hateful ships approached the river mouth.\\nStood off and on and tacked about at last.\\nFiring a gun to stern, they sailed away.\\nStill stands the tower. Long may it stand, disused I\\nWithout a blow, one foe it put to flight.\\nAnd when another comes it will arise\\nAnd in its ruins keep its legend good.\\nFor while I told this tale one summer night.\\nLeaning a weary head on fondest breast.\\nWe heard the sea-maids on the outer rocks\\nSplash in the falling tide, and dimly saw\\nWhat seemed their tresses, undulating there\\nAnd felt, around, below, above, the power.\\nNot human, but the help of human hands,\\nWhen set to labor in some noble cause.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "21\\nNew Castle is not without its story of witchcraft,\\nthough that supposed practice never flourished exten-\\nsively in New Hampshire. Here is given a title page\\nof a rare pamphlet published in London by Richard\\nChamberlain, at one time a guest of George Walton,\\nwhose house was the scene of action.\\nLithobolia or, the Stone-throwing Devil. Being an\\nExact and True Account (by way of Journal) of the\\nvarious actions of infernal Spirits, or (Devils Incarnate)\\nWitches, or both and the great Disturbance and Amaze-\\nment they gave to George Walton s Family, at a place\\ncalled Great Island, in the Province of New Hampshire in\\nNew England, chiefly in throwing about (by an Invisible\\nhand) Stones, Bricks and Brick-bats of all sizes, with\\nseveral other things, as Hammers, Mauls, Iron-Crows,\\nSpits, and other domestic Utensils, as came into their\\nHellish Minds, and this for the space of a Qiiarter of a\\nYear. By R. C. Esqr., who was a sojourner in the same\\nFamily the whole Time, and an Ocular Witness of those\\nDiabolick Inventions. The Contents hereof being mani-\\nfestly known to the Inhabitants of that Province, and\\nPersons of other Provinces, and is upon record in his\\nMajestie s Council Court held for the Province. 4to Dedi-\\ncation 2, and pp i6. London Printed and are to be sold\\nby E. Whitlook near Staiioners-Hall. 1698.\\nMany interesting pages might be written of the early\\nchurch in New Castle. We learn from records, that as\\nearly as 1704 the meeting-house was so old it was\\nordered sold for 50s. and a vote was passed to build a\\nnew one. Here is a significant extract from the record\\nof the first town meeting under the charter The date\\nis December 20, 1693 It was called to be held in ye", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0028.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "23\\nmeeting-house. Voted A gallery to be made in the\\nlattermost end of the meeting-house for the women to\\nsit in.\\nWe can trace the line of settled clergymen as far\\nback as 1682.\\nIn the Congregational church there is a marble\\ntablet bearing the following inscriptions\\nRev. John Emerson died Jan. 21, 1732. Aged 62.\\nRev. William SiiERTLEFFdied May 9, 1747. Aged 58.\\nRev. John Blunt died Aug. 7, 1748. Aged 42.\\nRev. David Robinson died Nov. 18, 1749. Aged 2,Z\\nRev. Stephen Chase died Jan. 1778. Aged 72.\\nRev. Oliver Noble died Dec. 15, 1792. Aged -^6.\\nPastors of this Church.\\nThe memory of the just is blessed.\\nThe absence of three other names Moody, Wood-\\nbridge, and Jourdon all preceding Rev. John Emer-\\nson in 1703, can be accounted for from the fact that\\nwhen the tablet was erected in 1852, the early records\\nhad not been recovered. Of this list all were gradu-\\nates of Harvard College except Rev. Oliver Noble,\\nwho orraduated from Yale. One other name belongs\\non this tablet: that of Rev. Lucius Alden, who pre-\\nsided over this church from 1846 to 1872. He exerted\\nan influence on our generation that will cause his\\nname to be long remembered. He was a direct\\ndescendant of John Alden, but never had the luck to\\nbe asked by any Priscilla to speak for himself.\\nMr. Alden was a graduate of Brown University.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0029.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0030.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "25\\nThe New Castle of to-day presents a strange contrast\\nto that of a generation ago. No industry is now\\ncarried on here. Our citizens, for the most part em-\\nployed at the Navy Yard and in Portsmouth, enjoy a\\nsuburban residence in this quiet, historic town, very\\nlikely to the envy of our city neighbors, who some\\nyears ago discovered the natural attractions here pre-\\nsented. New Castle shares, with fifty other places, the\\ndistinction of being the prettiest spot on the coast.\\nThe decline of the fishing industry has left us\\nan inheritance of picturesque bits of scenery that\\nattract artists of reputation to our shores. One sum-\\nmer school of art is now in session, and sketch clubs\\nfrequently visit us for a day. The sight of artists\\nflitting about in gay colored costumes, carrying their\\ntraps, or stationed before some newly discovered\\nsubject or scheme of color, is as pleasing to us as\\nto them the finished sketch. The exchange is fair.\\nWe enjoy their presence, are reluctant to their de-\\nparture, and welcome their return.\\nAs a summer resort, New Castle has become known\\nchiefly through the now famous Wentworth House,\\nsituated one mile from the village, by the outalong\\nroad, on the high bluff by the shores of Litde Harbor.\\nUnder the able management of Mr. William K. Hill,\\nits appointments within and without have been made\\nperfect, and its large patronage, that of the class\\nappreciating metropolitan comfort and luxury at the\\nseashore. A veranda fifteen feet broad extends around\\nthe house, from which there is an unobstructed horizon\\nview^ of over twenty miles. And such a variety of\\nscenery The immediate surroundings of beautiful", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0031.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "26\\nlawns, terraces, and groves the lagoon and island-\\ndotted Pool, but lead the eye in silent enjoyment to\\nPavvtuckaway and Saddleback mountains, and the Blue\\nHills of Strafford looking upon us from afar. On clear\\ndays, even Mt. Washington may be seen from the\\ntowers, ninety miles away to the north. Nearer, but\\nin the same direction, are Kittery Foreside, the Navy\\nYard, and Mt. Agamenticus, the throne of the great\\nsagamore, Passaconaway. On the northeast you look\\nclown on the mouth of the gay Piscataqua, our\\ncompact village on the south bank, flanked by Fort\\nConstitution and the old Walbach Martello tower.\\nOn the other side of the river are Kittery Point, the\\nhome of Sir William Pepperell, Gerrish Island (con-\\ntaining the cairn of the royal Champernowne), and the\\nlong broken coast of Maine. East is the Atlantic\\nocean and Isles of Shoals six miles distant. Looking\\nsoutheast you see Ipswich bay, enclosed by the long,\\nslender arm of Cape Ann. In the bend of Ipswich\\nbay are the Rye and Hampton beaches, six and ten\\nmiles away. Coming nearer, are Odiorne s Point, the\\nsite of Mason Hall, the first building erected in New\\nHampshire and Frost s Point. In front of the hotel\\nand between these two points, is Little Harbor, on\\nwhose bank, at its confluence with Sagamore creek, is\\nsituated the famous water-side residence of Gov.\\nBenning Wentworth, celebrated in song and story.\\nNew Castle points with pride to the record of its Life-\\nsaving Station, manned almost wholly by her citizens.\\nThe station, situated on Jerry s Point, was built by the\\ngovernment in 1887, cost of $5,000, and equipped\\nat an equal expense. It was manned in February,", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0032.jp2"}, "33": {"fulltext": "27\\n1 888, with seven men under Capt. Silas H. Harding,\\nstill in charge, and during its five years of service has\\nwon the honorable position No. i Station on the\\ngovernment books at Washington, both in point of\\nsuccessful assistance and in the discipline of the crew.\\nIn Captain Harding the government has found the\\nright man for the right place. His whole time and\\nLife-Saving Station.\\nthought are devoted to the improvement and per-\\nfection of the service. Every man of the crew is a\\ntypical sailor he is agile, courageous, and courteous,\\nwith a strong love for humanity in his big heart.\\nThe life-boat has been manned and assistance ren-\\ndered forty-four times and sixteen persons have been\\ntaken from wrecks. In several instances, vessels sail-\\ning under the British Hag have been assisted.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0033.jp2"}, "34": {"fulltext": "28\\nFor heroism in saving the crew of a vessel wrecked\\nin the November gale of 1888, each member of the\\nstation crew was awarded, by special act of congress,\\na gold medal valued at $125. A continuous watch is\\nmaintained from September i to April i, and at night,\\nthe coast from the station to Fort Point is patrolled by\\nthe life-savers. The crew of 1892-3 consisted of\\nCapt. Silas H. Harding, Wm. L. Flynn, T. H. Barber,\\nIsaac Gillis, E. S. Hall, Ernest Robinson, Esrom\\nCorkum, Chas. Prohaska.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0034.jp2"}, "35": {"fulltext": "ADDRESS OF WELCOME.\\nBY MR. FRED HELL,\\nChairman of Board of Selecimen.\\nMr. Chairman, l,adies and Gentlemen The anticipated pleasure of this\\noccasion (to nie at least) has been impaired by the thought that I must perform\\nthe initiatory act Of this, the two hundredth anniversary of our incorporation as\\na town under a royal charter granted to the men and inhabitants of this place\\nby king and queen, William and Mary of old England in 1693.\\nAnd we meet here to-day to commemorate that important event and, Mr.\\nChairman, ladies and gentlemen, as chairman of the selectmen, and in the name\\nof the residents of this town, I thank you for your presence here to-day on this\\noccasion, and bid you one and all a hearty welcome and with a few changes in\\nthe phraseology of .Samuel Woodworth s Old Oaken Bucket, may we all say\\nHow dear to this heart are the scenes of our childhood,\\nWhen the bright light of day presents them to view:\\nThe ocean, the ledges, the deep tangled wildwood,\\nAnd every loved spot that our infancy knew.\\nAgain bidding you welcome, I will now introduce the chairman of the executive\\ncommittee, Mr. John Albee.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0035.jp2"}, "36": {"fulltext": "ADDRESS BY MR. JOHN ALBEE,\\nChairman of the Executive Committee.\\nOur celebration to-day is happily coincident with the Columbian year, and our\\nlittle local history extends over rather more than half the Columbian period.\\nTo-day a procession of two hundred and fifty years moves past us, to be remem-\\nbered, to be saluted and honored. Generation after generation has come and\\ngone this day they assemble, reunited and complete. Not a single one of the\\nsons and daughters of New Castle is absent. They pass by pale and speechless,\\nbut all are remembered, and I seem to see them return our salute with a smile\\nof recognition and gratitude.\\nTheir annals are brief but in no way obscure. They lived plainly they wrote\\nclearly and concisely their own story, and acted with integrity and intelligence\\nin their public and private stations. All that to-day we behold living and flour-\\nishing is, in nameless ways, derived from them. Theirs, too, are the ruins we\\nfind everywhere on this Island and could we call up from the deep the unnum-\\nbered vessels in which they sailed over all seas, the picture of their activities\\nwould be complete.\\nHail, ancient town Island home of so many brave, unpolished, stalwart\\nmariners, fishermen, and soldiers\\nIIe(6 was gathered together the first community in New Hampshire that\\ncould be called, with any historical propriety, a community that organized it-\\nself on the basis of law and religion, and furnished itself with the outward sym-\\nbols of the provincial civilization a small fort, or Castle, as they loved to call\\nit a church, within the Castle enclosure, a watch-tower, prison and stocks, sev-\\neral inns, and one after another all the equipments of village order which we\\ninherit, and to which we have not added a single one. Indeed we have lost\\nsome and only changed the operation of others. Can you believe that by the\\nmere act of incorporation, in 1693, this town sprang, full-fledged, into being.\\nNot at all. It had been settled more than fifty years, and was, in fact, a place of\\nmore importance before incorporation than it has been at any similar period\\nsince so that, although we celebrate to-day a bi-centennial, we distinguish\\nrather a formal than an actual event.\\nThe reason why this place became the first community of any importance in\\nNew Hampshire, is not far to seek. It was due to its environment. Its popula-\\ntion was necessarily concentrated within very narrow boundaries, boundaries\\nwhich the eye here meets in every direction, the bays, the river and ocean, until\\nthe Island is reduced to less than one square mile and mainly over a few acres\\nof this, along the margin of the river, the town arose. Its business was on the\\nwater, not agricultural. For this it required little room ashore room it found", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0036.jp2"}, "37": {"fulltext": "ill abundance when its citizens lifted the anchor, spread the sail, and ploughed\\nfurrow whose crop was codfish, rum, and molasses. Our ancestors set their\\nhouses near together; consequently they sooner needed regulations for the pro-\\ntection of their separate interests than rural and sparse communities. More-\\nover, this concentration of houses and population, although requiring more\\nminute policy regulations and in these the Castilians were excessively punctil-\\nious led naturally to a closer and more definite community of interests in\\naffairs of greater importance than the garden wall and the height of the chim-\\nney.\\nHere first in the history of New Hampshire, in consequence of close neigh-\\nborhood, came into being and exercise that terror and safeguard of our later\\ncivilization, public opinion. Public opinion was the whole of the law and nearly\\nof the gospel on Great Island at a very early date. Its quaint, first and very\\nsignificant name was the Town s Mind. At a very early date we had a public\\nopinion on the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay; on witchcraft, on royal gover-\\nnors, on taxes, and the Mason claims and within our rocky shores, on the\\nactions of every man and woman; on pigs, salt fish, and staves, and on all the\\ndetails of daily life. Many of these found a formal, and often pragmatic expres-\\nsion in our ancient documents.\\nBut I must not trespass on the time and topics of the orator of this occasion.\\nBecause New Castle is a small island, called in early times Great Island, in\\ncomparison to its twenty companions near by, because of the concentration of\\nits inhabitants and their long seclusion, its whole history is unique, picturesque,\\nand romantic beyond that of any New England town known to me. If any one\\naccuses the local historian of using too much color on his palette, let him study\\nour annals and himself become identified with the town for a number of years,\\nand he will become aware how really faint and imperfect is the picture.\\nLocal hfstory is the only important history. In it we come nearer to human\\nlife, to man, than in that of empires. Study and interest in it is the source of\\nmost civic virtues. It is most fitting, therefore, that we should celebrate its\\nanniversaries, not only for our own enlightenment and inspiration, but in grateful\\nremembrance of our forefathers. If I may be allowed to moralize, I should say\\nthat local interest, the love of our own town, and the people among whom God\\nhas appointed us to dwell, is, after the great commandment, the beginning of\\nwisdom.\\nThe tides come in, and return again whence they came. As they come in, they\\nfill every nook and cranny m rock and sand. No spot is forgotten, no shore\\nunrefreshed. I suppose no drop of water complains that it must fill some empty\\nshell, or visit some obscure shore and float the boat of an humble fisherman.\\nIt knows that it will soon return and become a portion of the infinite sea, an\\nequal sharer in all its grandeur and power. So it is with man. Without his\\nwill he is borne on the tides of life to some destined or wholly accidental shore,\\nwhere without glory or reward he must fill well the place and the duty he finds\\nawaiting him, comforted and sustained by the thought that the same tide which\\nbore him hither will soon restore him to the great central sea of being, where, it\\nis said, if he has been faithful over a few things he will become lord over many.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0037.jp2"}, "38": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0038.jp2"}, "39": {"fulltext": "HISTORICAL ADDRESS.\\nJ\\nBy frank warren HACKETT.\\nWe are met together amid surroundings of no common or ordinary kind.\\nOne has only to look about him to see that here is a region where Nature in\\nbestowing her wondrous gift of beauty has held not back her hand. Below us\\na noble river pours its tide into the Atlantic. Yonder are the Isles of Shoals,\\nwhile here and there against the sky is to be discerned the white sail of some\\npassing vessel. Uo we turn inland, the eye rests upon a varied expanse of\\nwater, land, and distant hill, a picture such as artists love to paint. Close at\\nhand is a snug, little village, smiling with every sign of thrift and comfort.\\nWell may we e.xclaim, Lo, a goodly land, that is fair to look upon.\\nWe are at this moment occupying a spot fertile in historic incident. We\\nstand upon soil early dedicated to the art of war. For more than two cen-\\nturies and a half (save during certain seasons of neglect), cannon planted\\nhere have guarded the harbor entrance of the Pascataqua or, as the Indian,\\nwith an ear for the rich music of the word, pronounced it, the Pas-ca-/\\nqua. To-day these walls of massive granite, but half completed, and these\\nhuge, unplaced blocks tell of an ambitious project to sweep beyond the lines\\nof an old fortification, and build a new one of grand proportions. It was the\\nfierce struggle of inventive skill and genius, as applied to the problem of guns\\nafloat and guns on shore, that arrested the enterprise, and of a sudden con-\\nverted a scene of busy engineering into the stillness of death and decay. But\\nthese ruins, we may believe, are for a time only. They presage the rising of a\\nstronghold that shall protect and endure, even as the citadel of our liberties\\nwhose name it shall bear, the Constitution.\\nWe are here to greet with festivity and gladness the recurrence of this\\nday. Two hundred long and eventful years of the chartered life of the town\\nof New Castle have run their course. In 1693, William and Mary, of their\\nespecial grace, granted to their beloved subjects, men and inhabitants of\\nGreat Island, including Little Harbor and what is now Rye (then Sandy\\nBeach), to be a town corporate by the name of New Castle. The royal char-\\nter passed the seal of the Province on the 30th day of May of that year. The\\ntown was to pay an annual quit-rent of one peppercorn, on the five and twen-\\ntieth day of October, forever. On the 4th of August, 1693, Council of\\n3", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0039.jp2"}, "40": {"fulltext": "34\\nthe Province granted leave for an election but the first town meeting was\\nnot held till the 20th of December, following.\\nAs a happy medium between these respective dates, this seventeenth\\nday of August has been set apart to commemorate our anniversary.\\nWe possess records of the town, at periods somewhat defective, that come\\ndown to the present hour. The two earliest books once after some myste-\\nrious fashion wandered off across the ocean (how many years ago no one\\nseems able to tell), but, like the prodigal, they repented and came home\\nagain, to get a warm welcome in 1S73. Every son and daughter of New\\nCastle can look through these pages with a feeling that goes some ways be-\\nyond complacency, and borders very closely upon pride. If there be little\\nhere recorded that has much affected the great world outside, there is on the\\nother hand nothing to be ashamed of. No! If a hardy, resolute, and ener-\\ngetic people, such as have held this island from the first, may not in the\\ncourse of two hundred years have accomplished something that deserves to\\nbe remembered, something for the cause of human progress, something to\\nmake the world better for their having lived in it, where else are we to look\\nfor annals worthy of preservation\\nWhile New Castle as a town has attained the respectable age of two hun-\\ndred years, the first settlement here lays claim to a date, sixty or possibly even\\nseventy years earlier. In the spring of 1623, a staunch little ship, the Jona-\\nthaii, of Plymouth, England, cast anchor off yonder point, then called by the\\nIndians Pannaway, now known as Odiorne s Point, in the town of Rye. She\\nbrought from Plymouth Mr. David Thomson, with twelve or fifteen men, to\\nbegin a plantation. They built a strong and large house of stone, enclosed it\\nwith palisades, and mounted guns within, as a protection against the Indians.\\nUnder an agreement with Plymouth merchants, they had come to engage in\\nthe fisheries, to traffic in furs, and to build up a colony. Thomson s wife\\ncame over with him, or followed in a later vessel. It was the first settlement\\nof what is now the state of New Hampshire. A granite shaft ought to mark\\nthe spot. It would stand on ancient territory of the town of New Castle.\\nThere has recently been brought to light a manuscript description of New\\nEngland, written about 1660 by Samuel Maverick, who settled in 1624,\\nat Winnisimmet, now Chelsea. Maverick was a friend of Thomson s, and the\\ntwo must have interchanged visits. About 1626, Thomson moved to Boston\\nBay, where he soon after died. The widow afterwards was married to Maverick.\\nFrom this source we learn that Thomson, haveing granted by Patent ail the\\nIsland bordering on this land to the Midle of the River, he tooke possession\\nof an Island comonly called the great Island. So we know that this terri-\\ntory where we now are came into the possession of Englishmen in 1623.\\nWhether any house was built here for permanent occupation at so early a\\ndate, is a matter of conjecture but that Great Island was then in some way\\noccupied, we can feel assured.\\nThomson was doubtless acting in the interest of Gorges and Mason. The\\nplantation, we may believe, was continued after its founder had left it. In\\n1630, and during the two or three following years, the Little Harbor settle-\\nment was increased by the coming of stewards and servants, to the number", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0040.jp2"}, "41": {"fulltext": "35\\nof fifty men or more, with their faniiiies, sent out by Captain John Mason.\\nSome of them went up the river, where they built the Great House\\nat the Hanke, that is, at Portsmouth, near what is now Court and\\nWater streets. Others went further up to Newichawanneck now South\\nBerwick. To the site where we are assembled Captain Walter Neal, who\\nwas a soldier, and the leader of the band of newcomers, brought cannon,\\nsome of which were of brass. Here he planted them, and here he built a\\nstrong and substantial work, to command the ri\\\\er. To this they gave the\\nname of Fort Point.\\nFor a i^eriod of nearly half a century Great Island maintained the lead,\\nUi..iUji..\\\\. I, OK Mrs. Lli. i.l,...,.\\nboth in numbers and activity, of the settlements upon this river and it long\\nremained the place of chiefest importance. Nor is this to be wondered at.\\nNot that the soil was superior rather the contrary but here fishing could\\nwith most convenience be carried on. Here, too, was security against sudden\\nincursion from hostile savages. Then, again, it is to be remembered that\\nmost of the adventurers were west of England men. They came from\\nCornwall, and from Devon. They loved the sea; they loved to be near it.\\nStrong affection for the familiar scenes of the home they had left may have\\nexercised a controlling influence in the choice they were now to make. The\\nsettler may well have preferred to cast in his lot at a place where daily he", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0041.jp2"}, "42": {"fulltext": "36\\ncould look out over the ocean, ready to catch the first glimpse of a sail that\\nshould bring tidings from merrie England.\\nTo this subtle attraction of the element so potent to shape the life of him\\nthat once yields to it, your own poet-historian, Mr. Albee, alludes, with a deli-\\ncacy of touch that is the pervading charm of his valuable little book.\\nFond local attachment, he truly says, belongs to dwellers by the sea. Nor\\ncan they be happy away from their boundless horizon.\\nTravel at that primitive day was accomplished almost exclusively by water.\\nThe river was a highway. A ferry was early established to the main land,\\nbut scarcely any one here went on horseback. So late as 1680, in a tax-list of\\nfifty-seven estates, one finds only three horses owned upon Great Island. One\\nwas the property of George Walton, Senior the other two belonged to Der-\\nmont Usher.\\nThe first grant of land upon Great Island, so far as we now know, bears\\nthe date of October, 1637.- Vines, Jocelyn, and Warnerton, as agents of\\nGorges and Mason, lease, at an annual rent of two shillings, a neck of land\\nlying upon the north-west side of the island, of about one hundred acres,\\ncommonly called Muskito Hall,^ to Francis Mathews, and his heirs, for the\\nteim of one thousand years. If Mr. Mathews had cherished the purpose of\\nconferring upon his descendants the privilege of living upon an estate thus\\nagreeably described with the opportunity for active enjoyment that its name\\nimplies, all at the rate of two shillings a year, he was doomed to a speedy\\ndisappointment, for the land soon passed into other hands.\\nOne wishes that we might be furnished with some particulars in regard to\\nthese first settlers of New Castle. You would like, I dare say, to ascertain in\\njust what part of the town this or that remote ancestor of yours had his home\\nlot. What were the incidents that befell him in the round of his simple yet\\nstirring life\\nThe records to which we would naturally resort for light upon this\\ninteresting period, have been destroyed. You will be surprised, when I tell\\nyou that they perished, not from fire, or by accident, but at the hands of the\\nselectmen of the town.\\nOne winter s night, five men met at a tavern (or ordinary, as it was then\\ncalled) kept by George Walton, who had come here, a fisherman, from New-\\nfoundland. The party had with them a volume containing the accumulated\\nrecords of perhaps seventeen or eighteen years of the infancy of the settle-\\n1 New Castle, Historic and Picturesque, by John Albee (Boston, 1884), page 4.\\nThe salt-marsh around the head of Sagamore Creek early invited occupation. Mr.\\nFrancis Williams, chosen governor under a combination for local self-government, which\\nhad been entered into about 1633 by Great Island, Little Harbor, and Strawberry Banke,\\n]ived on the Salt Creek. So at least I infer from the record of a deed made by him in\\n1645. For faithful services as a factor of Mason, a large grant upon Sanders Point had been\\nmade to Ambrose Gibbens in 1632. We may safely set down Sanders Point as the earliest\\nEnglish name that has been preserved in this region. It applies to the neck of land upon\\nwhich the bridge from the Wentworth touches, at its further end.\\ns Later called Wotton s Neck. I find it described as Muskito Hall, in court records, as\\nlate as 1829. To-day the name is applied to a narrow stretch of water in that vicinity.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0042.jp2"}, "43": {"fulltext": "37\\nment. Slowly they turned over leaf after leaf of this book, and marked here\\nand there an entry that they thought worth preserving. The rest they crossed\\nout. They voted (for they were the selectmen) to begin a new book of\\nrecords, into which the town clerk should copy such entries as they had\\napproved. J he old book thus dishonored they threw aside. This transaction\\ntook ])lace on the night of the 13th January, 1652.\\n^Vllat became of that old town-book, no one knows. It is enough to say\\nthat our earliest records at Portsmouth start in 1652, the result of that\\nnight s work at Walton s inn. The entries copied from the old first-book are\\nfew and meagre. i\\nTime does not admit of my entering upon an explanation of this strange\\nact. It was no secret conclave of conspirators. The leading men of the\\ntown in an official capacity were carrying into execution a carefully concerted\\nplan. Suffice it here to say that the procedure was in strict conformity with\\nthe methods by which Massachusetts Bay had seized upon this region, and\\nwith a rigid hand maintained her jurisdiction. The story of usurpation is all\\nthe more difficult to unravel, for the very reason that the Bay authorities did\\nnot scruple to make use of the records for their own purposes, nor hesitate to\\nmalign those who stood in their path^ Until recently New Hampshire\\nhistory has been written from the standpoint of the Puritan. Perhaps\\nnothing more readily reminds us what that standpoint was, than certain\\nfamiliar resolutions, with which you are very familiar:\\nResolved, That the saints shall inherit the earth.\\nResolved, That we are the saints.\\nIt is in no spirit of controversy that I speak of the intolerant traits of\\ncharacter tliat prevailed among the very worthy leaders who governed our\\nneighboring colony, and were willing to govern us. These men acted\\naccording to the light that they had. If they actually believed that a man\\nhere who happened to think otherwise than they did, could do so only at the\\ninstigation of the devil, we of to-day can stretch out the hand of forgiveness.\\nBut the truth of history is to be zealously sought for, and when found, as\\nzealously defended. We may rejoice that a new era has opened before us.\\nThe asperity and the rank injustice that marks the pen of the Puritan\\nchronicler is largely shorn of its power for mischief, now that the sources upon\\nwhich it drew for inspiration are understood and duly estimated.\\nThe prevailing religion among those who first settled here, was that of the\\nChurch of England. Mr. Albee has, I think, very satisfactorily shown that\\nthere must have been a church here soon after 1640, at which the Reverend\\nRobert Jourdan ministered. Little by little, however, the Puritan faith made\\n1 Of late, England h.is seen a revival of interest in early records, and the kingdom is being\\nsearched to discover old documents and papers. The cheapness with which printing can\\nnow be done, and the increase in number of those who aim to preserve historic material, both\\nin England and America, combine to make it probable that some originals may yet be\\nbrought to light that belong to the annals of our early settlements here. It is by no means\\nunlikely, therefore, that by the next centenary a more accurate and minute account of the\\ninhabitants of Great Island, at their first coming here, can be laid before the audience then to\\nhe assembled, than is possible at the present day.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0043.jp2"}, "44": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0044.jp2"}, "45": {"fulltext": "39\\nheadway, until at last church worship was abandoned here, and people went\\nto meeting at the Banke. As the town taxed everybody to support the\\nminister, the location of the meeting-house came to play an important part in\\nthe life of the town. It was no slight undertaking, especially in winter, to\\nrow against wind and tide to Portsmouth. There, on the hill below the south\\nmill bridge, stood a building, described as of sixty feet by thirty with\\ngalleries, a low belfry and a bell, the windows with diamond panes set in\\nlead. Alongside of it were a cage, and a pillory and stocks. To Mr.\\nNathaniel Fryer, of Great Island, had been accorded the privilege of building\\nnext door to the meeting-house, a little cabin, wherein the Fryer family\\ndoubtless found it convenient to fix up, before facing the congregation.\\nIn the many attempts to gain a right to be set off as a separate parish\\n(which eventually resulted in the incorporation of New Castle) one argument\\npressed by the petitioners was the great hazard and danger of getting their\\nfamilies to meeting. To this Portsmouth neatly rejoined We have never\\nheard and hope never shall of any lives lost in attempts to come to meeting.\\nIf at any time there should be any danger of that, they well know mercy is to\\nbe preferred before sacrifice.\\nCandor compels the admission that a good deal of staying away from\\nmeeting on the Lord s Day was practised in the olden time upon this island.\\nNehemiah Partridge, it seems, had a servant named Robert (never mind\\nhis family name), whose predilections in this regard have gone into our public\\narchives. Robert stands confessed of record, not only of having a vacant\\nseat charged up against him on several successive Sabbaths, but on the\\nSabbath before last Sabbath [so the record runs] he did eat part of two pigs\\nthat were roasted at Christopher Kenneston s. The pigs had been stolen,\\nbut Robert was not accused of being privy to that enormity. Robert s offence\\nconsisted of profanation of the Sabbath, and absenting himself from Mr.\\nPartridge s service. Upon examination before the Worshipful Richard\\nMartyn, of the Council, Robert got sentenced to be publicly whipped upon\\nhis naked body nine stripes. Could his Honor have looked down the vista of\\na century and a half, and caught the full flavor of Charles Lamb s disserta-\\ntion upon this subject (I do not mean the subject of staying away from meet-\\ning but of roast pig), his sense of judicial duty could scarcely have been\\ntempered with more mercy for the court suspended execution until Robert\\nshould again neglect his master s service, or profane the Sabbath, then\\nforthwith to be whip])ed with nine stripes, as above.\\nIt is but a step from the meeting-house to the school-house. We do not\\nunderestimate here in New Castle the importance of giving to our boys and\\ngirls a good, plain, common-school education. That this policy was early\\ndetermined upon, is apparent from the records.\\nIn March, 1669, the town voted that a piece of land at Cireat Island, not\\nexceeding an acre, be sequestered to build a school-house on, and that a school\\nbe built on it at the towne s charge, the selectmen Captain Pendleton and\\nMr. Dering to see it done. The house was accordingly built, and on the\\n9th May, 1672, liberty was granted to Nicholas Hogkins to swing his ferule\\nwithin its walls. With your permission, I will read Master Hogkins letter", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0045.jp2"}, "46": {"fulltext": "40\\nof application for this office. It will serve to remind us that the art of pre-\\nparing one s own recommendation is of no recent origin. We shall also see\\nwhat happy work that gentleman made of it.\\nTo the Inhabitants of Portsmouth\\nNicholas Hogkins humbly deaclareth That being by the ordination and\\nprovidence of God a resident upon the Great Island about 15 months and\\naffecting ye public benefit of ye unlarned and untaught youth heare or adja-\\ncent do by your favourable permission countenance and choyce intend to ex-\\nercise myself in teching those arts with which God hath betrusted me and\\nwith which I may for future be endowed hearby manifesting my respect to\\nobedience of and complyance with the laws and orders of this place either\\nsacred or civill and endevowing to manifest myself Yo Reall servant\\nNicho Hogkins.\\nOn the 15th March, 1674, is the entry that upon motion made by Widow\\nLock to live in the school house on the Great Island in order to the teaching\\nof children to read and sow have granted her desire.\\nThe jurisdiction assumed by the Bay Colony over us, lasted from 1641 to\\n1679. Forty years of a strong government had wrought a wide-spread change\\nin the condition and the sentiments of the people. Those who were Puritans\\n(some of whom had come here from the Bay) were aggressive and united,\\nbacked as they were by the authorities. They alone held the offices, and they\\nhad gradually got possession of the land. The Church of England party\\nlittle by little was pushed to one side a few yielded, and ranged themselves\\nwith the dominant faction.\\nUpon the restoration of the king to his throne, the opponents of the union\\nwith Massachusetts sought redress of their many grievances. Mason s heirs\\nhad all along been active against the encroachments of the Bay. To adjust\\nthese, and other difficulties, and to capture New Netherland from the Dutch,\\na fleet of four vessels of war was sent over, with a small force of soldiers.\\nFour royal commissioners accompanied the expedition. On the 20th July,\\n1664, two ships, the Rlartin^ and the William and Nicholas put into this har-\\nbor. They remained at anchor for a day or two, and then sailed for the ren-\\ndezvous at Long Island. They took New Netherland, now New York; but\\nthe commission accomplished nothing in the way of curbing the power of the\\nBay Colony. The next year three of the commissioners visited Portsmouth,\\nwhere some of the people had signed petitions, saying that the Massachu-\\nsetts had usurped power, and that they were kept from open opposition by\\nfear of fine and imprisonment.\\nIt is a long but a deeply interesting story. I have time only to say that of\\nthe strong adherents to the policy of separation, a few lived here at New\\nCastle.\\nAt last, after a struggle of many years duration, the union of the two colo-\\nnies was dissolved by order of the king. New Hampshire was erected into\\na royal province, under a president and six councillors, with an assembly of\\neleven deputies. The commission was sealed iS September, 1679. Guns", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0046.jp2"}, "47": {"fulltext": "41\\nwere fired here upon receipt of the tidings. John Cutt was appointed presi-\\ndent Martyn, aughan, and Daniel of Portsmouth, Oilman of Exeter, Hus-\\nsey of Hampton, and Waldron of Dover, were named as the council. .Singu-\\nlar to state, they were every one a firm friend of the Bay Colony. President\\nCutt lived but a year after taking office. Waldron succeeded him for a short\\nterm, when there came upon the stage one of the most restless, strong-willed,\\nand zealous representatives of royal authority that ever crossed the Atlantic.\\nEdward Cranfield, who, as his renmins lie buried in the cathedral at Bath,\\nprobably came from Somerset is, upon the whole, the most interesting histor-\\nical personage to whom New Castle may lay claim. Here he lived during the\\nRLalDl.NCl. Ol I, ...1. A. 11. Wlllll.\\nentire term of his brief service as governor. From almost the day of his arri-\\nval he succeeded in plunging our little province into a state of turmoil and\\nexcitement, of which this immediate locality was the centre.\\nGreat Island was the court end of the capital of the province. Here, with\\nthe advent of the provincial government, sat the council, and here the assem-\\nbly met. Here, too, the courts of justice tried offenders, and they were kept\\nbusy at the work. Here was the jail. The house of Captain Stileman had\\nbeen devoted to that purpose, and the new governor found opportunity to\\nmake not a few leading citizens acquainted with its interior. We came\\nnear having a portrait of His Majesty, King Charles, the Second, together", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0047.jp2"}, "48": {"fulltext": "42\\nwith the royal arms, set up here in fine style, only it so happened that the\\nvessel on which they had been shipped never reached her destination, and\\nthe province had to get along without them.\\nRobert Mason asserted the right of collecting quit-rents of the landholders,\\nin virtue of the patent to his grandfather. Captain John Mason. This claim\\nhad all along been bitterly resisted. Mason mortgaged the province to Cran-\\nfield for twenty-one years, to secure to Cranfield the payment of ;^i5o for\\nseven years. Mason was made a councillor, and afterwards chancellor.\\nCranfield s commission as lieutenant-governor passed the seals gth May, 1682.\\nBy another commission from the Duke of York he was made vice-admiral,\\njudge, register, and marshal of the admiralty, with power to appoint substi-\\ntutes. Upon Cranfield far greater powers were conferred than had been\\ngiven to his predecessors.\\nSailing from Plymouth in the frigate Lark, he was nearly seven weeks\\nreaching this coast. The ship put into Salem harbor, ist October, 16S2. The\\nroyal governor hurried overland to Portsmouth, where he arrived on the 3d.\\nHe was quick and alert. Early the next morning he set about the duty of\\nofficially announcing his presence. He took the oath, swore in his council,\\nand issued a proclamation. The Lark soon made her appearance. She\\nstayed here till early in January. The governor at first established quarters\\nat the house of Captain Walter Barefoote. Afterwards, he went to live at\\nthat very attractive spot, the Jaffrey house, a mansion that we pray may stand\\nas sturdily for years to come as it has for more than two centuries past.\\nTime forbids my dwelling upon the many commotions that swiftly followed\\neach other in Cranfield s administration the dismissal of the assembly, the\\nJaffrey affair, the Mason land suits, the imprisonment of the Reverend Joshua\\nMood} the rebellion at Hampton, and the conviction and awful sentence of\\nits ring-leader, Gove, for the crime of treason. Upon complaint made to the\\nking, an arrangement was at last effected by which Cranfield withdrew in\\n1685, and later retired to the Barbadoes, where for some years he faithfully\\nserved his royal master.\\nAll these events have, as the expression goes, passed into history, though\\nas that history has been to a large extent written by clergymen opposed to\\nthe Episcopal faith, its statements will bear certain qualifications. New\\nHampshire owes to Jeremy Belknap a debt of gratitude for a work that in\\npoint of purity of style has nowhere been excelled. We can see that as a\\nhistorian the writer tried to be impartial in narrating facts, to be just in stat-\\ning conclusions, and charitable in imputing motives. When treating of Cran-\\nfield, however. Dr. Belknap does not stop at moderately emphatic terms of\\ndisapproval. Vindictive, cruel, deceitful, malicious, and other like\\nadjectives are freely employed to denote the warmth of the historian s denun-\\nciation. Cranfield s hypocrisy, he tells us, is detestable.\\nOne can scarcely dismiss a suspicion, that could the historian of New\\nHampshire return to-day in the flesh for the purpose of revising what he\\nwrote more than a century ago, he would soften, at least some of these ex-\\npressions. Dr. Belknap, it is proper to explain, had no access to the other side\\nof the controversy. Letters written at the time and dispatched to England by", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0048.jp2"}, "49": {"fulltext": "43\\nCranfield, are now before us in print, thanks to the energy and the liberality\\nof a worthy son of Portsmouth, the late John Scribner Jenness.\\nCranfield, it is plain to see, was hot-headed and stubborn. He wofully\\nlacked tact. He utterly failed to enter into the tone and temper of the people\\nhe had undertaken to govern. It may l)e that personally his manners were\\nnot agreeable, for he had not in his nature a particle of conciliation. Pos-\\nsibly it is true that he was disappointed at not making out of the office the\\nmoney upon which he had counted. But like many an unpopular occupant of\\npublic station, Cranfield has been made to carry a heavy load of charges, for\\na part of which he is not justly responsible.\\nKesu\\nSome day this striking episode in New Hampshire history will be written\\nanew. Facts, some of them not heretofore consulted, will be thoroughly\\nsifted. A picture will be drawn of those turbulent times, which shall do\\neven-handed justice to all the actors, chiefest of whom is Cranfield. New\\nCastle will furnish the background of the picture. The canvas stands ready\\nfor the artist.\\nAs though the good people here had not had their fill of e.xcitement,\\nanother kind of agitation occurred in Cranfield s day, that must have gone\\nnigh to turning the island completely upside down. I refer to a stone-throw-", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0049.jp2"}, "50": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0050.jp2"}, "51": {"fulltext": "45\\ning devil, who played his pranks on the premises of our old friend, George\\nWalton. Luckily for posterity (who always want an authentic account of the\\nmarvellous), the Secretary of the Province, Mr. Richard Chamberlain, lodged\\nand took his meals at Walton s, l^eing an ocular witness and handy with\\nthe pen, Mr. Chamberlain was thoughtful enough to set down then and there\\nan account of these violent activities, with the whizzings and snortings that\\naccompanied the same. When Mr. Chamberlain went back to England, he\\ngave to the world a little book, printed at London in i6g8, and entitled\\nLithobolia. It is a famous little book now. Cotton Mather heard of\\nwhat was going on here, and he also has embalmed it in literature, written in\\nhis well known simple and lucid style\\nTremendous as was the event, it bore a character strictly local. The\\nbrickbats and the hammers, the pewter pots, and sundry other articles con-\\nvenient for missiles, were hurled about nowhere else than within the boundary\\nlines of Mr. Walton s real estate. Here, however, they freely circulated.\\nInasmuch as the demonstration had assumed a concrete form at a time when\\npeople were just recovering from the effects of a great fiery-tailed star, that\\nhad been blazing in the heavens, some of the wiser heads were sure that the\\ndevil, the comet, and Governor Cranfield had solemnly entered into an unholy\\nleague for the purpose of terrifying and harassing the Province of New\\nHampshire.\\nWe of a later generation have reason to be proud of our stone-throwing\\nvisitor. To be sure, his name never got upon the tax-list, but we know that\\nhe stayed long enough in town to entitle him if not to vote, at least for\\never after to hail from New Castle. No other incorporated community in the\\nland (or in Europe either for the matter of that) can match us in this peculiar\\nline. Moreover, though twice at least the black cat of witchcraft showed\\nitself within our territory, it has left behind it, thank God, no stain of the\\ngallows.\\nWhat single date may hope to awaken in us at this hour so lively an\\ninterest as that of the year 1693. The event distinguishing that year above\\nthe rest, we pay honor to by these commemorative exercises. All of us, I dare\\nsay, would like to know what the town of New Castle looked like just after it\\nhad been born. It is safe to say that it must have had every appearance of\\nbeing a healthy child. I am admonished, however, that your patience has\\nbeen taxed to such an extent by my attempt to bring before you some\\nconception of how they started off in 1623 with their infant settlement, that\\nthere is really very little time left us to look at the infant town.\\nAs for the christening, I am inclined to agree with Mr. Albee. He is good\\nat guessing. This time I think he has hit the mark. The fort, as we know,\\nFrom records of the North Church, Portsmouth, we know that in 1692 the families in the\\nparish numbered 231 at Strawberry Banke, 120 at Greenland, 68; at Great Island, 43,\\nthe families south of Sagamore Creek being classed with Greenland. The census of 1890\\ngives us a total of 488. In 1773 our numbers were 601. The highest figure, I think, that\\nNew Castle has ever attained, is 932, in the census of 1820. In 1880 the town had 610\\ninhabitants. Several towns in Rockingham county show a decrease of population in the last\\ndecade. One thing is sure we are to-day escaping the evils of a redundant population.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0051.jp2"}, "52": {"fulltext": "46\\nwas not infrequently termed the castle. It cost the rate-payers a pretty penny,\\ntoo, to keep it in a state of what may be called warlike posture. To judge\\nfrom the frequency with which the subject figures in council and assembly\\nrecords, the fort must have been always either actually undergoing repairs, or\\nelse deplorably in need of them.\\nIt so happened, while our chief men were nearing the goal of their hopes,\\nin their efforts to bring about a sej^aration from Portsmouth, that a good deal\\nwas going on at the fort or castle in the way of making it as good as new.\\nWe can accept this plausible explanation, in default of a better.\\nThe first town meeting was held on the 20th of December, 1693,\\nmeeting-house that stood near the fort.^ The honorable office of selectmen\\nwas conferred upon John Clark, James Randall, and Francis Tucker. John\\nLeach was chosen constable.^\\nThe limits of the present address do not admit of my entering into the\\ndetails of our political town history. That is a subject that deserves to be\\ntreated by itself. Ample materials for a sketch, instructive as well as enter-\\ntaining, are at hand in our local records.\\nThe town-meeting is justly admired as the nursery and the conservatory of\\nour liberties. The true democratic instinct here enjoys free, natural play.\\nEvery man meets his neighbor on a plane of equality, to discuss and decide\\nquestions of local concern. So far from being a mass of dry, dead matter, of\\nno practical use to this busy age of ours, the recorded proceedings of our\\nearly town-meetings have much to teach us, illustrating as they do the steady\\ngrowth and development, in its primary stage, of the foundation principles of\\nself-government. Let me then invite your attention to the urgent need that\\nexists for doing all that is to-day possible to put your town records into proper\\nshape. The record that begins in February, 1756, ends abruptly on page 46\\nwith the proceedings of a meeting 26th January, 1767. There are entries\\nthereafter of meetings from iSoo to 1807, together with many pages of mar-\\nriages and births. It can hardly be that one or two more books were not\\nkept of the records from 1766 to 1800. These books maybe in existence\\nsomewhere in the neighborhood. Let search be made for them. There are\\nloose papers of various dates covering this period. They should be carefully\\nexamined and classified, ready to be copied into a book, if we do not find the\\nmissing volumes.\\nI regret to add that from 1856 to 1S65 the records also are missing. Let us\\nhope that these defects shall be remedied at as early a day as possible.\\nI feel, too, upon this occasion, that I may fitly urge you to guard these\\ntown books against all possible danger of future loss. Do not let it come to\\npass that fire destroy them. Not to you alone who live here or to those\\nwhose lot it was to have been born here, are these old records of value.\\nThey are precious, and as the years pass, they will have grown more precious\\nto thousands scattered over the country, who can trace back some ancestral\\ntie that reaches New Castle.\\nAlbee, page 136.\\n2In 1793 the selectmen were Henry Prescotl, George Frost, and John Tarlton. In 1893,\\nthey are Fred Bell, Ambrose Card, and Charles H. Becker.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0052.jp2"}, "53": {"fulltext": "47\\nTo the foresight of some of our good townspeople do we owe it that the\\ntown has a transcript of the oldest book. This admits of the copy being\\ndeposited for safe keeping at a distance from the original. It is a wise pre-\\ncaution, a kindness to posterity. Let the school children visit these records,\\nand learn from them a lesson in history. Let us all look upon these pages\\nas so many visible links binding us to the past. They who lived here two\\nhundred years ago were not all old people (as one is apt carelessly to assume),\\nbut men, women, and children, of every age and condition. We simply\\nhave stepped forward to take their places. Soon we too will be gone. Let\\nnot the ancestor be totally forgotten upon the soil where once there smiled\\nfor him a happy home.\\nThe first hundred years of the town, almost co-e.xistent with the eighteenth\\ncentury itself, brought in their train a varied fortune. The peaceful pursuits\\nwere the fisheries, or voyages along the coast, or to the West Indies. There\\nwere serious troubles with the Indians, and wars with the French, when New\\nCastle manned the forts (there had been a fort also at Jaffrey s point as\\nearly as 1665,)^ or by night patrolled the shore from here to Little Boar s\\nHead, or contributed her share of that product peculiar to the New England\\nseaport towns that half sailor, half soldier, and all fighter to the taking of\\nLouisburg.2 There were coronations at Westminster, and changes of high\\nofficials at home. It was a gala day when a new royal governor was\\nproclaimed. They would fire muskets on the parade at Portsmouth, and then\\nthe guns of the fort here would respond with a noisy salute. When the Earl\\nof Bellamont was proclaimed in 1698, it took four gallons of rum with a due\\nproportion of sugar, nutmegs, and limes (amounting to i _;^, 7 Shill., and Sd)\\nto make the ceremony here at the fort pass off nicely. The receipt (not for\\nmaking the punch, but in payment of the bill) is on record. What chiefly\\ninterests us, I think, is the apt name of the lieutenant who takes charge of\\nthese ingredients Samuel Comfort.\\nTowards dark on the afternoon of the I3tli December, 1774, a horseman\\nrode in hot haste into Portsmouth. The king in council had passed an order\\nprohibiting the exportation of gunpowder and military stores to America.\\nThe rider brought warning from the Boston committee of safety that a sloop\\nof war had dropped down into the roadstead there, bound thither, it was\\nthought, to strengthen Fort William and Mary. He was Paul Revere.\\nThe next day the roll of drum had brought together men from all direc-\\ntions to the door of the state house. By three o clock in the afternoon a band\\nof about four hundred, headed by Captain Thomas Pickering, coming from\\nPortsmouth, Rye, and New Castle, surrounded the fort here and demanded\\nits surrender. Captain John Cochran held it with five men. He told the\\npatriots on their peril not to enter. In his report the captain says, I\\nordered three four-pounders to be fired on them, and then the small arms,\\nand before we could be ready to fire again we were stormed on all quarters.\\nI XVII State Papers, 542.\\nAmong the names of New Castle men who took part in the siege are Captain Abraham\\nTrefethren and Thomas Card. Henry Trefethren and Lewis Tucker lost their lives in this\\ncampaign.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0053.jp2"}, "54": {"fulltext": "48\\nSeizing and confining the captain and his guard, the invaders broke open the\\nmagazine and carried off a hundred barrels or more of the king s powder.\\nThis powder did service for the cause of liberty at Bunker Hill.\\nThis exploit was followed up by a later attack, in which John Sullivan and\\nJohn Langdon (both destined to become eminent) were leading actors. The\\nparty secured and brought away certain cannon and small arms.\\nThis daring enterprise, in which your townsmen took part, assigns to the\\nspot where we now stand a place of honor as the scene of the first overt act\\nof rebellion in the colonies. New Castle is thus brought into the very fore-\\nground of the opening scenes of the Revolution.\\nYou well know the story of Governor John Wentworth s coming hither to\\nseek the shelter of the fort, and of the ships of war in the harbor. There\\nare in the town office two letters written by the governor at that time to the\\nselectmen of New Castle.\\nOn the 13th August, 1775, the selectmen (John Simpson, Henry Pres-\\ncott, and George Frost, Jr.) addressed the governor, stating that the town had\\nkept a watch at night, and that about Twelve o clock last night they were\\nattacked by a number of men from His Majesty s ship, the Scarborough, one\\nof whom was taken and carried aboard, and another wounded. The select-\\nmen pronounce it a very extraordinary and alarming piece of conduct, and\\nthey ask that the man be released and set on shore. The governor prom-\\nises to look promptly into the affair, with what result it does not appear.\\nOn the 17th August, the governor requests the selectmen that he be sup-\\nplied with provisions, for which he will pay, he having at least twenty in the\\nfamily, and no communication with Portsmouth. The selectmen reply in a\\ntone respectful, but spirited, as follows\\nMay it please Your Excellency\\nIn answer to Your Excellency s Letter of this Day we are sorry to inform\\nyou that this Town is so poorly furnished with Provisions of any kind that\\nit is quite out of our Power to furnish your Excellency, and as the Com-\\nmunication is now stoped with Respects to the Transportation of Provisions\\nfrom the Country to this Town it is not in our Power to procure more than a\\nbare sufiiciency for our own subsistence, all which we are obliged to go to\\nPortsmouth for.\\nWe are Your Excellencies most obed Hum Servants\\nJohn Simpson,\\nHenry Prescott\\nSelectmen of New Castle\\nNew Castle Augt 17 1775\\nDuring the Revolution earthworks higher up the river were relied upon\\nfor the defence of Portsmouth. The fort here was left with but a handful of\\nmen. Captain Meshach Bell at one time had just six men under his com-\\nmand. In the War of 1812 it was fully garrisoned under Captain Marshal.\\nIn 1861 the state troops garrisoned Fort Constitution.\\nAs an incident of the Revolution, it may be mentioned that on the ist", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0054.jp2"}, "55": {"fulltext": "49\\nDecember, 1777, a ship arrived here from Europe bringing Baron Stciil)en,\\nwho came over to aid us. To that gallant officer s wonderful work in ])er-\\nfecting the drill of the continental soldier was due, as you know, no small\\nmeasure of our success.\\nOn Monday, the 2d November, 17S9, this fort gave a glad welcome of thir-\\nteen guns to George Washington, president of the United States, who was\\nbeing rowed by in a barge. At this date Captain John Blunt, who had\\npiloted Washington s boat across the Delaware on the memorable eve of the\\nBattle of Trenton, was living on Blunt s Island. It is thought that Wash-\\nington went ashore there to see Captain Blunt in hi.s own home. 1\\nThe military service required of the inhabitants of this town, it must be\\nremembered, was promptly furnished at the fort. Yet there were those who\\nenlisted and went forth to military duties in the field. Ten years ago there\\nwere living in New Castle one pensioner of the War of 181 2, Abram Ama-\\nzeen and five widows of soldiers that served in that war, Mrs. Mary White,\\nMrs. Hannah F. Vennard, Mrs. Grace Beal, Mrs. Mary Kinnear, and Mrs.\\nMary Lear. Mrs. Kinnear died at the age of 95 years and 9 months.\\nDuring the War for the Union New Castle contributed of her men and\\nmeans. On last Memorial Day flowers and the flag that we love so well\\nmarked the spot where those lay sleeping at Riverside and at Tarltons who\\ndied in order that the Union might live. They number eight at the former\\nand ten at the latter cemetery.\\nA full list of officers of the army who have been stationed at Fort Constitu-\\ntion would be interesting. I have not had time to prepare it. Of the com-\\nmanding officers the following partial list is, I think, appro.ximately correct\\n1821, Major John B. Walbach 1822, Captain Fabius Whiting 1829, Cap-\\ntain Felix Ansart 1839, Captain Justin Dimick; 1849, Major Charles S.\\nMerchant; 1849, Captain Richard D. A. Wade 1850, Major John M. Wash-\\nington 1853, Captain William Austine.\\nIn December, 1853, Lieutenant-Colonel Washington and Captain Horace\\nB. Field (who had been stationed here), of the 3d Artillery, were lost in a\\ngale on the ill-fated steamer San Fi-ancisco, when four officers and one hun-\\ndred and eighty men perished. As a boy I can remember the company\\nmarching up across the Parade at Portsmouth, on their way to Fort Colum-\\nbus, New York harbor, thence to be transferred to the Pacific coast. Lieu-\\ntenant Winder was among the saved.2\\nColonel Justin Dimick and his family were long identified with New Cas-\\ntle and Portsmouth. I may also mention the fact that Major Robert Ander-\\nson, of Fort Sumter fame, was stationed here as first lieutenant in i834- 35.\\nAnother officer was Francis Vinton, second lieutenant (i833- 36), who re-\\nsigned and became eminent as the Reverend Doctor Vinton, of New York\\ncity.\\nSergeant James Davidson, who had sole charge of the fort for many years,\\nDuring their terms of office President Pierce came here in the Wabash, man-of-war,\\nand President Arthur was taken through New Castle on his way to Portsmouth.\\n2 His son, Lieutenant William Winder of the navy, was born at Fort Constitution.\\n4", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0055.jp2"}, "56": {"fulltext": "50\\ndeserves honorable remembrance. On the morning of the 2d June, 1S55,\\nthe frigate Constitution, lying off this harbor, fired a salute. It was returned\\nfrom the fort, the sergeant himself firing it alone. I can easil) recall with\\nwhat admiration, when a boy, I regarded the soldierly bearing of Sergeant\\nDavidson.\\nNew Castle in 16S6 became a port of entry. The trade was then confined\\nto the products of the forest masts, planks, and staves, the fisheries having\\nbeen given over. Twenty vessels of 290 tons belonged to Great Island in\\n16S1.\\nIn 1839 the fishing business was very extensive. Fifty schooners were\\nowned here in whole or in part. Captain Thomas Tarlton was a large owner.\\nSo was Captain Thomas E. Oliver. Other owners were the Bickfords, the\\nBatsons, Whites, Curtises, and Amazeens.\\nSome years later the manufacture of shoes was carried on here for a while\\nwith some success.\\nIn former times, when the fishermen were off at their business, political\\nexcitement occasionally dropped to a low ebb. A town meeting was duly\\nwarned for the last Monday in August, 1794, to vote for four representatives\\nin the Congress of the United States. The following entry appears on the\\nback of the warrant\\nMonday, August 25, 1794. The select men assembled at the meeting\\nHouse agreeable to the within warrant but as no others came except Henry\\nPrescott Jun r, they thought bsst to depart without doing any business.\\nHenry Prescott, Town Clerk.\\nThere has never been over much wealth in New Castle, and the sea-faring\\nelement has predominated. Boys did not go to college they went to sea.\\nNew Castle s claim to men of distinction is a modest one.\\nTheodore Atkinson was chief-justice of the province. Colonel Shadrach\\nWalton was a man whose career would have done honor to any locality.\\nHis great-grandson, Benjamin Randall, also a native, was a man of rare\\nmerit, the founder of the Freewill Baptist denomination. The first president\\np7-o tern, of the senate of the United States, the patriot John Langdon, was\\nborn in the town of New Castle. John Frost is the name of one of New\\nHampshire s best and most useful citizens. Sampson Sheafe was councillor\\nfor more than twenty years; Jacob Sheafe, his son, was born here in 17 15.\\nGeorge W. Prescott (who died in 1817) was graduated from Dartmouth, be-\\ncame a lawyer, and was United States attorney for the district of New Hamp-\\nshire. I am told that Harriet Prescott Spofford is of this Prescott family.\\nNow that a new era has dawned for New Castle, and summer visitors are\\nmore than charmed by its attractions, the town gets the benefit of some re-\\nflected light in a literary way. If the poet be neither made nor born here, he at\\nleast sojourns here awhile. John Albee is one of us. The Town Report shows\\nthat he is still in the sunshine of civic distinction, being number three on the\\nboard of education. Arlo Baker was a bird of passage, but Stedman and\\nBarrett Wendell are of our summer population. The latter is identified\\nwith our home industries, for I understand that he keeps a literary work-", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0056.jp2"}, "57": {"fulltext": "shop at full blast here in a little building hid away somewhere in the woody\\nregion of Frost Fields. Besides these whom I have named, as brilliant a\\nhistorian as ever wrote English loves New Castle so well that he comes and\\ndwells where on summer days he can from his window at Little Harbor look\\nout upon the river view that he has so faithfully ))ainted in a late volume of\\nthat fascinating series, The Conquest of Canada.\\nThere remain not a few subjects which for lack of time I am obliged to\\npass over without mention. The topography of the town, with special ref-\\nerence to territory once of incorporated New Castle, that now belongs to\\nRye or to Portsmouth the bridges, early and late, and the means resorted\\nto for raising funds wherewith to build them; the joining of Rye to New\\nCastle in sending a representative to the General Court; the experiment of\\nannexing Star Island in 1716, and how it turned out; the old custom of nightly\\nhanging a lantern upon the flagstaff at the fort before a light-house was\\nthought of; the long line of faithful ministers of the gospel who have labored\\nhere, not forgetting in this connection the Reverend Mr. Chase s negro man\\nCuff, the saxton, who rang the bell and cleaned the meeting-house; the\\nchanges that followed the opening of The Wentworth, the enterprise of its\\nowner in beautifying the grounds, sparing no pains to render it a summer\\ndwelling-place worthy of the views one gains there, views that once seen\\nare never forgotten. These, and many other topics, were full of interest\\ncould we bring them before us.\\nWe have thus for a few brief moments contemplated the New Castle of\\nthe past. We have seen her the home of a sturdy, a frugal, a self-respecting\\npeople. We have seen her true to the traditions of her Anglo-Saxon, lib-\\nerty-loving ancestry. We have seen her prompt in war hardy and industri-\\nous in peace. We have seen in her annals the bright incentive to the main-\\ntenance of a high standard of activity for the future.\\nLet us in turn uphold her honor and dignity. Grateful that Providence has\\nwatched over and protected our whole country, let us for the new century\\nupon which we have now entered look forward to blessings yet to come, in\\nthe full hope that as prosperity shall dwell within our borders as a Nation, so\\nshall the Divine favor in no small measure continue to rest upon this good,\\nold, island town of New Castle.", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0057.jp2"}, "58": {"fulltext": "^i\u00c2\u00abK\\nUC^u?i]", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0058.jp2"}, "59": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0059.jp2"}, "60": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0060.jp2"}, "61": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3351", "width": "2039", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0061.jp2"}, "62": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3424", "width": "2169", "jp2-path": "bicentennialsouv00curt_0062.jp2"}}